A dementia diagnosis may explain a lot of your frustrations. Communication and language, memory, ability to focus and pay attention, visual perception and reasoning and judgment may all be affected by your dementia. A decline in hearing is also linked to dementia and may manifest in many of the same ways.
Common Social Signs of Hearing Loss
Needing people to repeat themselves regularly
Difficulty following conversations in a group
Needing to turn the volume up to excessive levels
Difficulty understanding what’s being said in noisy environments
Certain sounds are less clear than others
Women and children are harder to understand than others
Emotional Signs of Hearing Loss
Stress from straining to hear others
Embarrassment with meeting new people or from misunderstanding others
Nervousness about straining to hear or understand
Annoyance with others because you don’t understand or hear them
Social withdrawal that may cause depression, loneliness or other mental health decline
As with dementia, untreated hearing loss may result in social withdrawal and isolation. Dementia symptoms are difficult enough to live with. A hearing evaluation can help you rule out the possibility of confusing hearing loss symptoms with dementia symptoms. Add regular hearing evaluations to your dementia treatment plan and help your loved one stay as engaged and active as possible.
Our trained Audiologist, Dr.Scarlet M. Aviles, can perform simple and comprehensive hearing tests. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Aviles at (808) 200-5633 today to make sure hearing loss isn’t complicating your already difficult medical situation. Hearing loss can be effectively managed so the hearing impaired can enjoy the highest possible quality of life.
